Animal waste, as the term is used herein, includes a combination of feces as well as urine which is produced by animals. Historically, animals, such as cows, chickens, turkeys, pigs and the like were raised for human consumption in open fields or pastures where the animals range freely. In this arrangement, the animal waste is spread over a large area and as such the animal waste it is not allowed to concentrate in any single area.
The efficiency of husbandry practices have evolved over time from raising animals in open spaces, to raising a great number of animals in what are known conventionally as confinement buildings. These confinement buildings house anywhere from several hundred to several thousand animals. While these systems improve the efficiency of raising animals and growing them to market weight, these large confinement buildings have generated a new set of problems.
Namely, by concentrating a great number of animals within a single building, the waste these animals produce has similarly been concentrated. It is well known that a single pig finishing-growing pig that weighs between 150 lbs. and 200 lbs. produces anywhere from 9 lbs. to 15 lbs. of waste per day, or between 1.6 tons and 2.7 tons of waste per year. That means a conventional confinement building that houses 1500 head, produces between 2,500 tons and 4,100 tons of animal waste per year.
Various systems, methods and practices have been developed to handle this high volume of concentrated animal waste. These systems include slotted floors that the animals stand on which allows the animal waste to fall through the floor to a runoff system such as a holding pond, lagoon or waste station positioned there below.
This waste is high in concentrations of various valuable nutrients such as Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potash, and Sulfur, among others. If handled properly, these nutrients can be recycled and used for beneficial purposes, such as fertilizing farm fields for growing crops. If, on the other hand, this animal waste is improperly handled, it can lead to substantial environmental damage or degradation, water pollution, or the like. As such, substantial effort and energy must be allocated to ensure the animal waste is handled properly.
Conventionally, much of this animal waste is trucked to nearby farm fields and spread over on or knifed into the soil to serve as fertilizer for the following year's crop. This spreading of the animal waste across large areas dilutes the deleterious effects of the animal waste.
Despite these advances in handling animal waste, problems still remain. Namely, it is costly to truck the animal waste to farm fields for its dispersal. In addition, while using the animal waste for fertilizer is a suitable way of disposing of the animal waste, it is often not cost effective. That is, even when a farmer spreads animal waste on a particular field, due to environmental regulations placed on the amount of manure that can be applied per acre, additional supplemental fertilizer may be required to achieve optimum plant nutrition and growth. This either causes potential yield loss or requires additional expense, time and energy for the purchase and application of additional fertilizer, not to mention the additional wear and tear on the farmer's equipment.
Another deficiency of the current system is that not much value or income is generated from the vast amount of animal waste produced from conventional confinement buildings. While using this animal waste as fertilizer is useful, the animal waste has tremendously valuable constituents therein, the value of which is not fully harnessed by merely using the animal waste as fertilizer.
Various systems have been developed in an attempt to harness the value of animal waste in an attempt to convert the animal waste into an energy source. However, all of these systems suffer from substantial deficiencies in design and/or function. One such system includes U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,088 to Schien et al. entitled Methods and Systems for Converting Waste Into Energy, issued Sep. 12, 2006; and its related U.S. Pat. No. 7,597,812 to Schien et al. entitled Methods and Systems for Converting Waste Into Energy, issued Oct. 6, 2009; and its related U.S. Pat. No. 7,985,345 to Lux et al. entitled Methods and Systems for Converting Waste Into Complex Hydrocarbons, issued Jul. 26, 2011. One substantial deficiency in these systems, with reference to FIG. 8, is that the animal waste is pumped through a coiled tubing (204) which is positioned within a heated chamber (200). This arrangement provides substantial challenges in the event that the system ever stops because the converted or partially converted animal waste will harden within the coiled tubing (204) causing substantial down time and substantial repair costs. Another deficiency of this system is that over time, plaque builds-up within the tubing (204) thereby reducing or constricting the flow of animal waste through the tubing (204) which causes the tubing (204) to be insulated from the heat of the chamber (200) as well as causing a restriction in the flow through the tubing. Another similar system is presented as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0079565 to Miller entitled Hydrothermal Conversion of Biomass to Hydrocarbon Products; among others. This system, like the others, suffers from the deficiency of using similar tubing. While these systems have provided some efficacy, they are all lacking in various ways, such as efficiency, ease of use, durability, longevity, through-put, and the like.
Thus, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that improves upon the state of the art.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that provides greater value to a producer than merely using the animal waste as fertilizer.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that is durable.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that is easy to clean.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that provides a continuous flow.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that is efficient.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that recycles heat and energy.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products produces oil, fuel and other useful and valuable products.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that can be utilized in large and small scale confinement building operations.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that reduces the amount of waste a producer must handle and dispose of.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that provides the animal producer with an alternative source of income.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that is simple.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that has a minimum number of parts.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that is inexpensive.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system and method for converting animal waste into fuel and other useful products that has an intuitive design.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the specification and claims.